About Us

The mission of CaroMont Health is to provide exceptional care to the communities we serve.

Our independent healthcare system has earned national recognition by combining innovative medical breakthroughs with an exceptional level of care. With a vast network that includes physician practices, hospice, urgent care, hospital and emergency facilities, CaroMont Health offers convenient, compassionate healthcare for every stage of life. Our award-winning care is the result of a skilled, dedicated staff and our commitment to making your healthcare experience comfortable, transparent and positive.

Our Services

Expertise when and where you need it.

CaroMont Health’s expertise in a diverse range of medical specialties helps us care for you from head to toe. Our experienced team of doctors, nurses and clinicians is proud to provide innovative, comprehensive healthcare and wellness programs in Gaston County and the surrounding area.

Community Impact

We partner with you to build healthy, vibrant communities.

CaroMont Health has deep roots in the Gaston community. Since 1946, we’ve made it our mission to inspire healthy lifestyles and support wellness in the communities that surround us. We provide a variety of educational classes, preventative screenings, wellness initiatives and support groups to help good health flourish in your neighborhood.

Gastonia, NC – March 22, 2011 – CaroMont Health and North Carolina’s
largest health insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC),
announced today a collaborative arrangement to offer patients a new health
care delivery and reimbursement model for knee replacements. This innovative,
value-based initiative is designed to provide quality care with improved
care coordination at competitive pricing.

The CaroMont Health and BCBSNC bundled payment arrangement is based on
the PROMETHEUS Payment model and will cover the entire knee replacement,
including the pre-surgical period of 30 days prior to hospitalization,
the surgery itself, and most follow-up care within 180 days after discharge
from the hospital. An early April implementation date is planned.

Betty Herbert, CaroMont Health’s Director of Managed Care, described
the arrangement, “This program will cover a variety of Blue Cross
Blue Shield North Carolina plans and extends nationally to all Blue Card
members. This allows us to offer value-based, quality care on a national
level. Additionally, the initiative includes a number of features that
promote care coordination. Specific quality and patient satisfaction measures
are built in to the plan because we wanted the patient’s needs to
guide our program.”

The bundled payment arrangement does not apply to federal employees covered
by BCBSNC or to customers with BCBSNC Medicare plans.

This program is part of CaroMont Health’s move to become an Accountable
Care Organization. CaroMont Health is focused on responding to economic
challenges and health reform legislation by meeting patient needs. The
strategy includes partnering with local employers and payers to institute
cost-effective initiatives that cover both hospital and physician services
for a full episode of care.

“Collaboration with providers that eliminate fragmentation in the
way care is provided and paid for – and promote better outcomes
in the process – is our priority at Blue Cross,” said BCBSNC
President and CEO Brad Wilson. “We believe initiatives like this
one at CaroMont are key to promoting health care quality, while also holding
down costs.”

CaroMont Health President and CEO Valinda Rutledge said that this initial
program is likely to lead to other collaborative opportunities. “Our
collaboration with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina for the
knee replacement bundle is paving the way for us to redesign the delivery
of care for other diseases and procedures,” Rutledge said. “The
possibility exists to redesign entire episode of care programs for chronic
diseases. We are passionate about providing quality health care at a reasonable
price for our community, and this arrangement is an example of our success.”

Physician practices participating in the program include Carolina Orthopaedic
and Sports Medicine Center, P.A. and Gaston Anesthesia and Pain Management
Associates. Dr. H.C. Thomason with Carolina Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine
Center, P.A. is pleased with the collaborative spirit of the program.
“As health care delivery models change, community-based physicians
need to work together with hospitals and insurers around a central theme
of care coordination. In this program, we have aligned ourselves by asking
the question: ”What is best for the patient?” We’ve
answered that question with this arrangement.”

In order to successfully launch this initiative, CaroMont Health partnered
with GE Healthcare and Sg2 analytic experts to assess the cost of a full
knee replacement

episode of care, including the pre-surgical period, surgery and post-surgical
period. This extensive analysis included observations and interviews with
key members of the CaroMont Health clinical staff to redesign the care
pathway and quantify the financial impact of the redesign through unique
simulation modeling recently developed by GE Healthcare for this program.

“The real national excitement is in our ability to provide a price
to the payer for the entire episode of care,” said Jeff Moser, Vice
President at Sg2. “By looking at costs across the full episode of
care, we are able to demonstrate care redesign for every step of the process—pre-surgical,
the surgery itself, and post-surgical. Now, with the CaroMont and BCBSNC
new knee replacement bundled payment program, CaroMont will be able to
include post-surgical episode costs. The goal is to ensure effective use
of resources, improved clinical outcomes, cost-effective care and, ultimately,
a better patient experience.”

About CaroMont Health

CaroMont Health in Gastonia, North Carolina is a regional, independent,
not-for-profit health care system and nationally-recognized “value-based”
health care provider. CaroMont Health is the only hospital in the region
named by Thomson Reuters as a 100 Top Hospital for quality care and is
one of two HealthGrades’ Clinical Excellence recipients in North
Carolina. CaroMont Health is among an elite group of 19 selected participants
(out of 3,000 national hospitals/systems) engaged in demonstrating “Accountable
Care Organizations” (hospitals focused on accountability for highest
outcomes at the lowest cost for individualized patient care). CaroMont
Health also is among a select few hospitals to be granted affiliation
with Columbia HeartSource of New York—a clinical partnership that
provides patient access to world-class clinical guidance and research
trials. CaroMont Health has received numerous quality awards and is among
only 6 percent of national hospitals to achieve Magnet recognition status
for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Association.

CaroMont Health System encompasses CaroMont Regional Medical Center with
435 beds; Courtland Terrace, a 96-bed skilled nursing community; Gaston
Hospice, which includes the inpatient 12-bed Robin Johnson House; and
CaroMont Medical Group, a extensive network of primary and specialty physician
offices and nearly 200 employed physicians. CaroMont Health is proactively
engaged in achieving its vision: To be a nationally-recognized leader
and valued partner in promoting individual health and vibrant communities.
CaroMont Health employs 3,800 health care professionals, including a medical
staff of 455. CaroMont Health is located at 2525 Court Drive in Gastonia,
N.C. and can be reached at 704-834-2000. Additional information is available
at www.caromont.org.

About BCBSNC

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is a leader in delivering
innovative health care products, services and information to more than
3.7 million members, including approximately 900,000 served on behalf
of other Blue Plans. For 77 years, the company has served its customers
by offering health insurance at a competitive price and has served the
people of North Carolina through support of community organizations, programs
and events that promote good health. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North
Carolina is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Association. Access BCBSNC online at http://www.bcbsnc.com.